Somewhere past mile 1,297 in Northern California, a Pacific Crest Trail hiker hit 38°C heat, spotted a mountain lion at dusk and crossed the official halfway marker of a 2,650-mile trek — all within about 48 hours. Her week-by-week diary for The Trek offers a raw look at what the trail's middle stretch through the Lassen region actually feels like.
The setting: the descent into Belden, a tiny resort town on the Feather River where the trail drops nearly 1,500 metres into a furnace of a valley. Hikers wait out the afternoon heat over cold drinks, then climb out at 6pm in sweat-soaked clothes. Night hiking has become routine — headlamps on, loose rock underfoot — and it was on one such evening that a hiking companion's abrupt "Nope" turned out to be a mountain lion with glowing green eyes just ahead. The trio camped closer together that night, then woke to a black bear ambling down the creek opposite their tents. Two large predator sightings in under twelve hours is not a typical week, but wildlife encounters are part of the deal out here.
The rewards are real too. A trailhead cache of cold drinks from local Girl Scouts, the aptly named Cold Spring at the top of a burn-scarred climb, and the emotional high of crossing the halfway point at mile 1,331 — where three friends joined hands and jumped the line together. Burn scars from past wildfires dominate this section, which is grim up close but opens sweeping views of Mt Lassen that a forest canopy would hide.
Town stops matter enormously on a thru-hike. In Chester, the group attempted the infamous half gallon challenge — downing nearly two litres of ice cream each at a picnic table outside the store. All three failed. Then came the logistics anxiety hikers call "mail jail": resupply parcels waiting in Dunsmuir that would arrive on a Saturday, when post offices shut, forcing 19-mile days and more pre-dawn maths. A breakfast buffet at Drakesbad Guest Ranch near the trail offered brief luxury before the grind resumed.
The stretch ends near Subway Cave, a cool lava tube just off the trail near Old Station — where the hikers stumbled on an unexpected cave gathering and politely declined the invitation. Along the way came a genuinely clever idea: with the official PCT Trail Days festival in Cascade Locks too costly in time, the group decided to throw their own DIY version in whatever town they happened to reach that August weekend. It captures thru-hike culture perfectly — community improvised wherever you find it.
Why should a regular traveller care? Because this is what the PCT's Northern California section really involves: brutal heat, thorny whitethorn scrub shredding your shins, 50-kilometre days, and towns like Belden, Chester and Old Station that exist almost entirely to serve hikers. Even if you'd never attempt the full trail, the Lassen country here makes a superb multi-day or section hike — with lava tubes, alpine springs and volcano views — provided you respect the summer temperatures.
